G'Day!
Thanks
for the great e-mail for this
week! I always love hearing about everything cool that's going on back
home. I feel like this past week went by really quick as well and there
were heaps of good things that happened. We witnessed a lot of miracles
this week that I'll mention. The family I mentioned last week who's
three kids are preparing to be baptized are really great when we went to
see them this week. They were very nice and the kids seem to be really
excited for their baptisms. We set the date with them on Tuesday when we
taught them for the 22nd of December, which was awesome! Talking to our
Ward Mission Leader yesterday, though, he said that when he went by to
see them and just confirm some things for the day that the Mom said they
may have to push the day back a week because they're unsure if the
Father will be able to make it on that day, so we'll find out for sure
later today, but even if they have to push it back that's of course ok
because it will still be great for the
family and obviously will be a special day no matter what day it is.
The next miracle we had this week came on Thursday. We were at the
library for our weekly 30 minutes on the church website and towards the
end of our time there, there walked in a African man who looked
familiar. After a few seconds I realized that it was Puot! (If you
remember him, the Kenyan man who was about to be baptized but got kicked
out of his house and we lost contact with him) So we waved him over and
he came and talked to us for a little while. He said that he was only
in Pakenham for the day so we were very lucky to catch him! We were able
to get his new address (in a town called Cranbourne which isn't too far
from here) and said that we'd be able to have the missionaries there
come visit him. So that was an awesome blessing and we were very happy
to see Puot again, as he was as well to see us. The third miracle for
the week had to do with Rodney. Last week we taught him
about the Word of Wisdom, which we had been told had been his only real
issue in the past (just with coffee and tea and he would have an
occasional drink for social reasons). So when we taught him this time he
understood really well and at the end the spirit was there so we were
able to challenge him to live the Word of Wisdom for at least the rest
of December. He said he couldn't make any guarantees but he would try
his best to do so. So we considered that a really good blessing to get
him to commit to that. When we saw his wife, Sister Dean, yesterday she
told us that Rodney has been doing really great so far with the
challenge to live the Word of Wisdom! So we thought that that was a big
miracle for us, and we really look forward to seeing him this week and
getting his opinion on how he's seen it help him both physically and
spiritually already. And now for the fourth miracle of this past week
(heaps this week, eh?) which happened yesterday
at church. During Sacrament meeting, about halfway through, there was a
lady who I didn't recognize that came and sat down next to us (we were
sitting on the row closest to the door). After Sacrament meeting was
over, we found out that her name was Karen. She was actually a non
member and had just decided to rock up (come) to church yesterday for
the first time to see what we were all about. She said that she'd seen
it heaps of times just driving past and it intrigued her so she decided
that she'd like to just come check it out. Now obviously that's an
incredible miracle in and of itself, but it kept going with her. She not
only stayed and came into the gospel principles class (the missionary
class) but also went to relief society as well! Some active members have
a hard time wanting to stay all 3 hours, haha! Obviously we didn't see
her in the Relief Society hour, but throughout the missionary class (the
lesson was on charity, a perfect and low-key
principle of the Gospel to introduce someone to) she was very attentive
and was following along in the book and everything. The members that
joined us to help in the class told some great stories as well which
helped the spirit to be there. So after the 3rd block, we went to talk
to her again. She said that she really loved church, and that she hopes
to be back next week as well!! She also mentioned she's interested in
joining the ward choir (they sang in Sacrament that meeting) and that
after the busy holidays are over she's keen to have us around to teach
her more about the church and the Gospel! Wow! That was definitely one
of the most incredible things that's happened to me on my mission so
far, and is awesome to see that she had courage enough to come on her
own to check it out. I'm sure we'll see many more miracles to come with
her in the near future. She and the Relief Society president exchanged
phone numbers and e-mail addresses so they'll be
in contact with each other for the time being. This transfer has really
been filled with miracles thus far and it's been really great to see.
This next week will be packed as! We have heaps of lessons and
appointments planned out and we will be constantly busy (hopefully, at
this point not everything is confirmed). Also, this Thursday there will
be the big missionary Christmas devotional which should be really fun.
All the missionaries from the Melbourne mission, except those in Tazzy
(Tasmania), will be there and it will go from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.
I'll save all the program details til next week when I can give you all
the specifics of what went on. So anyway, our week was excellent and we
are really excited for this next week and all the exciting things that
are going to be happening this time of year! Thanks again for the
wonderful e-mail and especially all the love, support, and prayers on
our behalf! I love you and I hope you have a wonderful
week ahead as well! I'll talk to you again soon!
Love,
Elder Hopkins
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